


Letters She Never Sent

by IChallengeMyFate (Ealdremen)



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 13:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4138920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ealdremen/pseuds/IChallengeMyFate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No matter how many times she tries, Emmeryn can't compose the right words.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Letters She Never Sent

Issuing written orders to knights and writing missives to distant nobles were as familiar to Emmeryn as her own name. There were particular structures and formalities to adhere to, and her quill glided across the parchment with practiced strokes. Too many days were spent like this, reading the border lords' concerns over the encroaching Plegian threat and responding to assure them that she would increase patrols there appropriately. She began before dawn, the light of a candle illuminating the desk before the sun would, and her days often ended same way, the sound of quill on parchment punctuated by the clinking armor of the nighttime castle guards in the hall.

Emmeryn could compose any number of formal writings. Her advisors and teachers had seen to that from even before she took the title of Exalt. What no one had taught her, however, was how to write a more personal letter.

She sometimes wrote to Chrom and Lissa if they had gone far from Ylisstol, but writing to her siblings was hardly anything she had to learn. They had grown up together, understood one another's intentions and personalities. Though, come to think of it, Emmeryn didn't write to them as often as she once did, as the nature of the Shepherds meant that messengers struggled to find them even on the best of days, and Chrom usually forgot about them until he found Emmeryn's original letter crumpled in his pocket two days after returning home. Of course she didn't begrudge him for it, but it meant that Emmeryn was decidedly out of practice with something as basic as an informal invitation.

_I would like if you could join me for a meal once you return to Ylisstol_

Emmeryn crossed that line out with a decisive flick of her hand. The way it was worded could be interpreted as a demand. She needed something more relaxed – something that made it clear that “no” was certainly an option.

~~_I've quite missed your company since you left to investigate the Plegian borders_ ~~

~~_You deserve a rest – before you return to your usual work, perhaps you wouldn't mind_ ~~

~~_I hope you wouldn't mind if I asked you for your time_ ~~

An uncharacteristically heavy sigh escaped Emmeryn. Too forward. Too roundabout. Too submissive. Her head slumped into her free hand, the quill's tip hovering above the inkwell. It was foolish to wish that someone had taught her how to act on feelings such as this. Exalts could have whatever they wanted. The finest food, the finest clothing, the finest beds – the finest spouses. All they needed to do was say the word, and the country would bend to their will.

Her father had certainly taken what he desired.

A frown creased Emmeryn's face, and she sighed again. Pulling open the oaken desk drawer open, she stuffed the parchment riddled with crossed-out introductory lines into a pile of others like it. Countless letters she never sent, all addressed to the same person that would never receive them.

Emmeryn blew out the candle and retired to her bed unusually early that night.

 

* * *

 

 

The guards had descended into an uproar over the disappearance of the Exalt. News reached Phila quickly, and she had returned to Ylisstol swifter than anyone had seen. The moment her pegasus landed in the city boundaries, she was accosted with updates on the situation, all pointing to the same frantic conclusion. Rumors abounded of Plegian spies within the castle that had delivered Emmeryn into the hands of the Mad King. Several guards had suddenly vanished with the Exalt, after all, and when the evidence looked like _that..._

“Search the barracks for any correspondences with Plegia.” Phila was hardly one to prematurely judge, but they had to be cautious. The guard saluted her and bolted off to relay her command to the others.

Phila rubbed her temples. She hoped the unusual silence from the borders hadn't indicated foul play within Ylisstol. To think that they had been watching for an attack that would never come while traitors worked from within to abduct the Exalt...

A weary sigh escaped her as she hitched her pegasus to a post. Perhaps she should have never left the castle and should have stayed by Emmeryn's side.

“Milady, if I could have a moment of your time.”

Phila turned her head. Another castle guard, but one she didn't recognize. This one seemed young, his voice not yet that of a man. At first, she might've even thought him a young woman – the roughness in his voice almost seemed to be an artificial compensation for how youthful it sounded. His short blue hair hung in his eyes, and she had half a mind to tell him to visit a barber and get it trimmed, because what good would it do if he couldn't even _see_ the enemy? But she only nodded.

“Speak,” she told him.

He gave her a salute – unpracticed and sloppy, like he had only ever seen it done and never done it himself. “While I agree that searching the barracks is the best course of action, might there be evidence elsewhere, such as in the Exalt's chambers?”

“...The Exalt's chambers?” Phila repeated slowly, raising a brow.

The boy nodded. He had a peculiar way of standing that kept his sword behind his cloak. Only the hilt, which he kept touching with his left hand, was barely visible. Try as she might, Phila couldn't recall an occasion she had spoken to him or even seen him before, but there was something oddly _familiar_ about him...

“If they wanted to abduct the Exalt, might they leave behind a note of ransom? I think few would be able to resist bartering for the castle's treasury in return for the Exalt.”

The idea was repugnant and nearly made her recoil, but Phila nodded. “...Perhaps. You have a good head on your shoulders.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

Phila strode past him, getting several paces away before she turned around. He was still standing there, but looking at the castle walls around them instead of at her. There was an almost lost look in his eyes as he glanced around. It was... strange. She would have remembered someone so peculiar, yet she also felt like she knew this youth from somewhere...

“...Forgive me, but I seem to have forgotten your name,” said Phila.

The boy blinked as he looked back to her, but he responded, “Marth – milady.”

This brought a small smile to Phila's face as she left to make good on his suggestion. “See to it that you stay worthy of that name, Marth.”

 

* * *

 

 

The flapping of wings above them alerted the guards she had chosen for this visit to the borders. They had immediately drawn their bows, pointing them at the source of the shadow above them. Being caught in such a flat grassland with nowhere to take shelter was hardly a comforting thought. The lancers and swordsmen formed a box formation around Emmeryn. She shielded her eyes with her hand as she looked up at the sky, and she called out:

“Hold – that's Phila's pegasus.”

Though the guards still kept their weapons drawn, there was a discernible sigh of relief through the ranks. The archers' shoulders relaxed. The pegasus alighted on the ground a few yards away, the beast's flapping wings causing ripples through the grass. Emmeryn held up her hand, and the guards broke formation to let her pass. She walked towards Phila – slowly, at first, but her pace quickened when she saw how disheveled and distraught Phila looked. Her normally well-kept hair was in disarray, strands sticking out of her bun, and her face was red from exertion.

“Your Grace,” Phila wheezed. She fell to her knees. “Praise the Divine Dragon that you're safe.”

“You needn't bow,” was the first thing out of Emmeryn's mouth, and she nearly winced at how formal her tone was. “Did something happen at the borders?”

“The borders--? Your Grace, I heard an urgent call from Castle Ylisstol that the Exalt had been abducted by Plegian spies.” Phila still kept her head low.

Emmeryn's brow furrowed. “I had... thought to keep this simple visit a secret, but it seems I can't go anywhere even with a squadron of guards.”

Phila's gaze flicked to the formation behind Emmeryn, as if noticing them for the first time. Her eyes went from the guards and then back to Emmeryn. “...I suspected as much.”

“Suspected?” Emmeryn repeated.

Phila reached into a small satchel hanging by her waist. She pulled out a familiar, crumpled piece of parchment with Emmeryn's handwriting. A tint of red plastered itself on Emmeryn's face, and her hands went to fidget with the sleeves of her robe. She halted gesture and forced her hands to hang by her sides.

“Ah,” she said flatly.

“It wasn't my intention to violate Your Grace's privacy,” Phila said quickly. She held up the parchment, still not making eye contact. “But with the rumors... we thought to check if the possible kidnappers had left behind a note of ransom.”

Emmeryn took the letter into her hands, twisting the parchment as if it would make the words fade away from Phila's memory.

“No, I... apologize. I ought to have made my own intentions clearer. However, it seemed unwise to let the whole nation know of my whereabouts, especially if I were going so close to Plegia...”

“A wise decision,” said Phila. “The fault lies with the overzealous guards, not with Your Grace.”

The silence stretched between them. Phila kept her head bowed, one arm on her bent knee and the other hanging by her side. Behind her, the pegasus pawed at the ground with a hoof, breaking the quiet with scratching at the dirt. Emmeryn sank to her knees, and this finally brought Phila's head up. The question on her lips died when Emmeryn smiled at her.

“Seeing as you received the letter anyway, will you accept my invitation?”

Phila averted her gaze. “If Your Grace wills it.”

“Do _you_ will it?” Emmeryn asked, tilting her head.

Phila hesitated, but the stoic features broke long enough for her to respond, “Yes.”


End file.
